New York ? Hideki Matsui and the New York Yankees had so much fun hitting against Sean Douglass, they wish he could have stuck around a little longer.

Matsui homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs in the first three innings against Douglass to power the Yankees to an 11-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

Douglass never made it out of the third — he was ejected for hitting John Flaherty in the knee with a pitch three batters after Matsui’s second shot. The ejection by plate umpire Chris Guccione came without a warning.

“I didn’t even know how to react. I’ve never been tossed from a game,” Douglass said. “I’m still upset at it.”;

Javier Vazquez (13-6) allowed three runs in the first inning but yielded only two doubles and a single the rest of the way before being removed after the eighth inning.

Matsui had his first multihomer gamer in 11/2 seasons since coming to the major leagues from Japan. His three-run shot in the first inning offset one hit by Carlos Delgado in the top half.

“It was definitely huge for the team and huge for Javy,” Matsui said.

Douglass (0-2) was hoping to give the beleaguered Blue Jays bullpen a rest, but that plan was scrapped when he was thrown out.

“Whatever he thought, he thought wrong,” he said of Guccione.

Flaherty was down in the count 1-2, after twice trying to bunt with Bernie Williams on third. Douglass came inside with a fastball, struck Flaherty on the front knee, and was immediately tossed.

“I was running to first base and I didn’t understand why the fans were cheering as loud as they were,” Flaherty said. “It was as big a surprise for me as anybody.”

New York's Hideki Matsui, right, is greeted at home by teammate Alex Rodriguez after hitting a three-run home run. Matsui homered twice and drove in six runs in the Yankees' 11-4 victory over Toronto on Friday night in New York.

Toronto manager Carlos Tosca charged out of the dugout and spent most of his time talking with first base umpire Tim Tschida, the crew chief. Tosca was already in a pitching crisis because overworked right-handed relievers Kerry Ligtenberg, Vinnie Chulk and Jason Frasor were unavailable.

Athletics 3, Twins 1, 11 innings

Minneapolis — Eric Chavez hit a go-ahead double in the 11th inning and Oakland survived Octavio Dotel’s second straight blown save in a victory over Minnesota. Oakland, which moved ahead of Texas back into the AL West lead, led 1-0 before Shannon Stewart homered off Dotel (2-1) leading off the ninth. On Wednesday, Dotel allowing a tying homer in the ninth to the New York Yankees’ Gary Sheffield.

The Twins lost for just the fourth time in 17 games, and still maintain a season-high six-game lead over both Chicago and Cleveland in the AL Central.

Mark Redman, Jim Mecir and Dotel combined on a four-hitter. Dotel had his fourth blown save in 12 opportunities with Oakland.

Tigers 4, Red Sox 3

Detroit — Dmitri Young had three hits and scored twice, including the go-ahead run in the sixth, to help Detroit beat Boston. Carlos Guillen had three hits, including a game-winning single that helped the Tigers stop a four-game losing streak.

Boston lost for the fourth time in six games and dropped a season-high 101/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the AL East. The largest deficit the Red Sox have ever overcome to win the division was 10 games, in 1988.

Orioles 9, Rangers 1

Baltimore — Erik Bedard took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, and Baltimore won its fourth straight. Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez and Larry Bigbie homered for the Orioles, who scored in each of the first five innings to build a 9-0 lead. Tejada drove in two runs to increase his league-leading RBI total to 99. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Rangers.

Indians 3, White Sox 2

Chicago — C.C. Sabathia outpitched Mark Buehrle in a matchup of top left-handers, and Coco Crisp hit a three-run homer to lead Cleveland past Chicago. Pinch-runner Willie Harris was thrown out at the plate by second baseman Ronnie Belliard to end the game. The Indians earned their 10th win in 15 games.

Devil Rays 2, Mariners 1, 10 innings

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Carl Crawford scored the winning run when Seattle shortstop Jose Lopez was charged with obstruction in the 10th inning. Crawford was on third with the bases loaded and one out when Tino Martinez hit a fly ball to left field. On the play, Lopez moved toward third and took a position between Crawford and left fielder Raul Ibanez. Third base umpire Paul Emmel determined that Lopez had obstructed Crawford’s view of the catch and awarded Crawford home. Lopez was charged with an error on the play.